A Grayer Life
by AFewBricksShortOFALoad
Summary: Harrys story with a few twists to make things a great deal less black and white. Harry goes to Durmstrang. HPDG. Raised in bulgaria by sirius. Nicer Malfoy. Hogwarts in 4th year and up.


_This story is Harry Potters story as it could have been if there were only a few minor twists. 1. The Malfoy family is more gray instead of black. 2. The Blacks were gray, like the Malfoys. 3. Harry was adopted by Sirius Black when his parents were killed.4. Lily was a pureblood of the Evans family. I think that this would significantly alter certain things in the story. I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form._

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A shadow looks through the window of the pleasant family home in front of him. He should be unable to see the home its' self. However, he reflected, one also should never trust a rat.

James and Lily sat together in the living room of their Godric's Hollow cottage. Though they normally loved to be in the others company, tonight was different. Neither of them enjoyed to spend time talking about such a depressing subject.

"James. We are still both active members of the Order. We could die at any time. What will become of poor Harry if something were to become of him?"

"Sirius would take care of him dear. I know that you don't always approve of his ideals, but in this case he would be the perfect man for the job. He would protect Harry as either of us would."

"Yes he would, but-"

Lily never finished her sentence. Before she got to the end of it, a bright light and a burst of sound erupted from the entry hall, followed by the front door.

"He's here! Protect Harry, I'll hold him off!"

Lily nodded and sprinted for the stairs. James paused only to draw his wand from his enchanted wand holster and sprinted for the door. By the time he had reached it, a dark figure had stalked through the doorway.

"James Potter. I see no reason for you and your family to die tonight. Pure blood is precious and I would spill none that needs not be spilled. Drop your wand and swear that you, your wife and when he is grown, your son shall serve me as long as you live."

James snarled at the arrogant Dark Lord standing within his home.

"Never. You are a traitor, and I shall not drag my family name through the muck by serving you. Avada Kedavra!"

Voldemort merely leaned his head a few inches to the side to avoid the killing curse thrown by the enraged man.

"So be it. You have signed your families death warrants in your own blood."

With that, the greatest Dark Lord since Gellert Grindelwald raised his wand, and in a flash of emerald light, James Potter was dead. Voldemort walked up the stairs and down the hall into the Potter family nursery. Within was the boy he had come to kill and his mother. Blasting open the door as he had the entry door of the house, he walked in and raised his wand, ready to shield. He need not have bothered. The woman was unarmed and stood holding the baby away from him.

"Step aside girl. Only one must die."

"No! Please, not Harry. Take me instead!"

As she was clearly not going to budge, he simply raised his wand and killed her. She fell to the floor lifeless, the squalling infant atop her. He reached down and retrieved the infant, holding it in the air with one arm.

"So this is Harry Potter, the child who will supposedly bring me down like some mere mortal. It is unlikely you can understand me boy, but if you can listen closely. I am going to point my wand at you, speak a few words and you will die."

With that, the Dark Lord raised his wand to the infants forehead, drew a deep breath and spoke.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

There was a flash of emerald light, and when it ended, all that was left was an empty pair of robes and a screaming child.

Sirius Black set out for Godric's Hollow the moment the wards he had enacted to warn him of danger approaching his closest friend were triggered. The whole area was surrounded by and anti-apparition field created by Dumbledore. Because of this, the quickest way to the Potter home would be by his enchanted motorcycle. He spent the entire ride with his foot jamming the accelerator pedal as far down as it would go. When he arrived at the house, he knew that he must be too late. Leaping off of the bike, he charged up the walk and through the blasted doorway. He saw James lying dead within the home, but continued up, knowing that he could do nothing for his friend. At the top of the stairs and in the nursery, he found it. Lily, dead by the crib. And the little baby Harry… Incredibly alive, and sitting while he screeched at the top of his lungs. Sirius dashed across the room, sweeping up the child.

"It's not safe here," he breathed. "Not even Dumbledore will be able to protect him from what the death eaters will do to kill him to avenge their lord. We must flee the country."

On the way out, he stopped to say a final farewell to James. He placed his friends wand upon his chest and spoke the traditional words of farewell. Before he left, he removed the black wand holster from James' wrist. He knew what he would do with it later.

"Goodbye old friend. May we meet again on the other side."

With that, he stood and walked away from the corpse of his first and best friend, taking with him his Godson, Hadrian James Potter, heir to the Potter and Evan's families.

Sirius soon arrived at the home of his cousins, the Malfoys. They had always made a point of walking the line of dark and light, never tipping to one side or the other. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, they were one of the few groups of people he could guarantee were not death eaters. After he knocked, the Malfoy's house elf opened the door to the manor immediately.

"Master Black, how wonderful to see you again. Please, follow me to the sitting room."

Sirius followed the elf into the room where Lucius entertained guests whom he was already familiar and, indeed, good friends with. Lucius stood and fixed his cousin with a stare.

"Sirius. What on earth are you doing here so late at night with young Hadrian?"

His face paled rapidly as he realized the main reason that Sirius would have Harry.

"Oh no. This can't mean-"

"It does. James and Lily are both dead. However, there is good here. Voldemort is gone. Dead as well."

Lucius breathed a sigh of relief.

"Regardless of James and Lily, this is excellent news. Hadrian will be able to grow up without the threat of the Dark Lord, and the Death Eaters will stop pressuring me to join."

Sirius nodded.

"It's not over for us yet though. The Death Eaters are still running around England free. They will kill Harry if we don't get him out of the country all together. Lucius, I need your foreign contacts. Please."

Lucius thought it over. "I have a number who can help hide you both in Bulgaria. I have been planning to send Draco to Durmstrang when he turns eleven. Albus Dumbledore cannot be trusted. I know that our old school friends the Greengrasses are already in Bulgaria. They plan to send their daughters to Durmstrang. I think, perhaps, an alliance with them might set you both in good stead."

Sirius thanked Lucius for his help and left, stopping only by Gringotts to retrieve a bag that would constantly refill with Galleons from his vault. From there, he simply apperated to the location of Lucius's Bulgarian contacts.

10 Years later

Hadrian sat up in his bed at the relatively new Black Castle in Bulgaria. One of the best features of a nearly endless supply of money was that virtually impregnable residences were well within reach. Getting out of bed, Hadrian dressed himself in his best black leathers and furs, put on his blood colored crimson cape and black leather wand holster and leisurely strolled downstairs to meet his Godfather (or Dogfather as he preferred to be known) for breakfast. Today was, after all, a very special day and it would not do to be late.

Sirius was waiting for him in the opulent dining hall.

"Morning Pup. Good to see you've finished hibernating."

Ignoring his Godfathers dig, Hadrian turned the conversation to something much more important.

"You about ready to go to Gultkrift Square?"

Sirius leapt to his feet.

"Yep. We're going to meet the Greengrasses there in about ten or so minutes. Let's go know, get a bite to eat."

Hadrian smirked and stepped into the fireplace, grabbing a handful of Floo powder on the way.

The two of them had just finished up a fast breakfast at the inn when the Floo flashed green again and a young lady of around Hadrian's age was thrown from it and across the room. Hadrian reached out and grabbed he against his chest, preventing her from being slammed headfirst into a hardwood table.

"Wow Daphne, if you wanted me to hug you that badly, you should have just asked."

Daphne shoved him back a step and dusted herself off.

"If I ever want to be hugged by you Harry, I'll say so. That was a catch."

Harry reflected for a moment on the fact that she still insisted on using that ridiculous nickname. She was the only one he would allow to. He was saved from having to come up with a passable response by the arrival of the rest of the Greengrass clan. A small ball of energy detached herself from her parents and tackled Hadrian in a bear hug. A really small one, but an attempted bear hug.

"Hadrian!"

Hadrian laughed and hugged the little girl back.

"How ya doing Tori? It's been what, two or three days since I saw you last?"

Astoria stamped her foot.

"It's been a week and you know it."

Still laughing slightly, Hadrian greeted the parents of his closest friend and her excitable younger sister.

"Cyril, Emily. How have you been?"

They, Hadrian, Daphne and Sirius exchanged pleasantries for awhile before getting down to business. It was agreed that the adults and Astoria would shop for the necessary supplies at Durmstrang, while Hadrian and Daphne would go together to get a wand and any luxury items they would want at the school. They two groups separated.

"Where should we go first?" Daphne asked.

"Let's go to the wand makers. We can do the rest of the shopping while they are making the wands."

They ran across the square to the store marked Marrigian Wand Makers. When they entered, they were immediately faced with a massive, middle aged man.

"Durmstrang students?"

The two of them nodded meekly.

"Let's see what your wands need to be made from then. Wood first."

The man guided them over to a large row of blocks of wood. They were instructed to pass their hands over each block of wood. Hadrian went first, walking down the line. Harry came to a block of wood three in that gave a feeling of warmth. He indicated it and the shopkeeper nodded and motioned for him to keep going. Eventually he got to the end. The last block in the line gave of a stunning sensation of heat. When he told the shopkeeper about this one, the man gave a double take.

"Incredible. The ironwood you chose at the beginning was surprising, but actual wood from a cursed Whomping Willow. This wand is going to be very impressive."

Hadrian was then moved onto the cores, where he did the same thing. For the cores he chose basilisk venom and sphinx heartstring. Finaly, he moved on to the focusing gems. After running his hand over most of them, he came to the perfect gemstone. It was a deep red ruby, run through with traces of diamond. Shaking his head, the shopkeeper gathered the ingredients together, running Daphne through the same procedure before ending up with holly wood, a phoenix feather and unicorn hair for the cores and a very pure emerald for the focusing gem. They were instructed to return in an hour for the wands.

They left the store and wandered from place to place, before ending up in a shop devoted to selling familiars to witches and wizards. Daphne was immediately drawn to a snowy owl and bought it. Hadrian, however, felt a pull to the section of the store containing cases of snakes. In one such case lay a sleeping Black Mamba. The clerk was only too happy to get rid of it.

Hadrian and Daphne returned to the wand shop. Inside they found a beautiful sight waiting for them. Their wands lay upon the counter, wood and gem worked masterfully together. Daphne's wand was a reddish brown color, with diamond at the back and in a tip at the front. It would work very well for charms and healing magic. Hadrian's, however, was a deep shade of black swirled with gray, the ruby at the back with swirling patterns of ruby sweeping up over the body of the wand. It would be extremely potent for dark magic, and difficult to shield oneself from.

The rejoined the others at the inn, said their farewells and headed for their respective homes.

_Well. There was chapter one. I tapped this out at 3 am because I couldn't sleep and am know dog tired. For future information- Harry, Daphne and Draco shall go to Hogwarts later for a somewhat altered Tri Wizard Tournament. It will be a Harry/Daphne fic, but not at first. I will update as often as I can, and would appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Flames are to be ignored._

_AFewBricksShortOfALoad_


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